Many parcels are not deliverable to the consignee on the first attempt, for a variety of reasons. Undeliverable parcels represent a significant logistical challenge for the carrier charged with transporting the parcel from the shipper to the consignee. An undeliverable parcel is sometimes referred to by a carrier as a delivery exception or a distressed shipment.
The shipper or sender, sometimes called the consignor, typically has no involvement in the shipment after the parcel is tendered to the carrier for delivery. Thus, the shipper may have only one opportunity to correctly mark and address the parcel with accurate consignee data.
The carrier often has a limited amount of information about the consignee, including only the consignee address in most cases. Many freight carriers have developed rules for processing a distressed shipment, typically including a number of delivery attempts followed by an intermediate holding period during which the consignee may retrieve the shipment. For the consignee or intended recipient, finding and collecting a temporarily undeliverable parcel requires time and effort.
For the shipper, the burden of accepting returned parcels can be enormously expensive and time-consuming. Returns require as much or more processing than preparing a shipment for delivery. Returned merchandise must be examined for quality, re-stocked and re-shelved, or otherwise processed. The burden on the shipper may develop into a total loss of the merchandise, especially for customized or built-to-order goods.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved system and method of handling and resolving distressed shipments in order to minimize the cost of returns and maximize the number of shipments that can be saved and ultimately delivered.